Brad's answer was the United States Government. He knew the government provided funds for entrepreneurial development and even access to research labs. Eventually, the government might even supply the necessary testbed for proving his product in real-world situations. So, in a leap of faith that only another entrepreneur would understand, Giordani packed up his belongings and moved from Washington State to Washington, DC.
So an (now) ex-lumberjack decided to move from the forests of the Pacific Northwest to Washington, DC to develop a new lubricant with no specialized knowledge of organic chemistry or lubrication technology, limited contacts in DC, and not even a place to stay. All he had was an idea, a few thousand dollars, and a strong desire to succeed. Not a formula for success! But Giordani is not the kind of person to shy away from a challenge. For example, during the Vietnam War in 1972, while only sixteen, he joined the US Army and ended up becoming the Military Karate Champion of South Korea in the spring of 1974. No task is too large for a person with this kind of drive. As far as Brad was concerned, the biggest problem was not how to create the lubricant, but rather how long it would take.
Hard Work
After settling in Washington DC, Brad went through a series of insider maneuvers that bordered on the miraculous. He was befriended by William Patrick Collins, at the time the youngest-ever Undersecretary of Energy during the Reagan Administration. Collins provided Giordani with several key contacts, including government engineers and chemists based in the area. Working with these specialists, Giordani quickly acquired an intimate knowledge of certain very specific aspects of synthetic chemistry. He continued his education by teaming up with a chemical company, where he learned the specifics necessary to begin product development, including the chemical reactor process that is now used to produce MILITEC-1®.
After years of hard work, Giordani achieved his technical breakthrough in 1988. He had invented the new lubricant MILITEC-1® Synthetic Metal Conditioner. Just as he had envisioned years earlier in the Pacific Northwest, MILITEC-1®
was an exceptional synthetic lubricant that provided constant lubrication and corrosion protection in the absence of an oil film. By physically and chemically impregnating itself into the metal, MILITEC-1®
; formed a completely new chemical compound on the metal's surface. Furthermore, MILITEC-1®
achieved this without the use of solvents, waxes, carrier oils, or solid particles. In short, MILITEC-1®
had all the advantages of its predecessors, but none of the negative aspects that plagued them, making it unique in the lubrication market.
There are two separate keys to Giordani's breakthrough. First, it is an exclusive formula that combines a unique synthetic-based starting material with natural anti-corrosion ingredients, extremely stable chlorate esters, anti-oxidant compounds, and synthetic ester base stocks. Second, it uses a proprietary chemical reactor process that transforms the blend of separate ingredients into one single chemical compound: MILITEC-1®. The genius of his invention lay in the combination of the two. Of course, Brad is the first to acknowledge that he could not have done it alone. His accomplishment owes a great debt to a variety of sources, but ultimately he put it all together.
The Tests
Just as Brad predicted, developing the formula was the easy part. Next he had to prove that the product worked. Winning marketplace support involved years of testing. He knew that MILITEC-1®
was superior to anything he had seen tested before, however, he still did not know exactly how much better or if there would be any unanticipated downside with long-term use. To get things going, he again called on his DC connections. The US Marines gave MILITEC-1®
its first official test, then the US Secret Service. The results surpassed their expectations.
In 1988, The Drug Enforcement Administration became the first Federal Agency to formally adopt MILITEC-1®
after witnessing a test conducted by Marine Corps officers at the FBI's rifle range at Quantico, VA. The test firearms, suppressor-equipped MP-5's, showed frequent jams and other malfunctions in fully automatic mode using a MIL-Spec weapons lubricant. When MILITEC-1®
was applied, the malfunctions immediately ceased and the weapons performed flawlessly. Concurrently, the US Navy tried many destructive tests, but MILITEC-1®
passed them all. When the Navy finished testing, their Medical Command gave MILITEC-1®
environmental approval for use aboard nuclear-powered submarines, making MILITEC-1 ®
the only product of its kind to receive approval for use in closed operational environments.
People were impressed, and word of the new lubricant spread rapidly. But some skeptics remained, and each new group designed fresh tests to challenge the findings of the previous group. Not surprisingly, public and private sector testing of MILITEC-1®
continues to this day, and includes the automotive and industrial markets. In fact, no other product of its kind has ever been tested so rigorously and by so many technically equipped groups. Yet, in all those years, MILITEC-1®
has never failed a field test that utilizes actual environmental conditions and equipment, and has never suffered a single product liability claim, proving its worth to the most scientific and technically oriented communities.
The Formula
It is important to note that MILITEC-1®
's formula as never changed. It is still exactly as formulated in 1988, with no modifications or "enhancements". Brad got it right the first time. So nearly 30 years after its creation, the superior lubricant invented by the former lumberjack is used and respected around the world. Through unflinching devotion to an idea, Brad Giordani's hard work and vision became a reality.